The present invention relates to a storage and display unit and in particular to a shelf unit for use in retail sales displays.
The cost of conducting retail sales, in particular for small food shops, clothing shops and the like is influenced greatly by the cost of the real estate and/or rental property. Retail establishments, therefore, attempt to occupy the smallest space available and they try to utilize as much of the space as possible for point of sale, storage and display devices. The display devices are, therefore, set upon with minimum passage space between them and are built so as to be freestanding and, therefore, somewhat movable. Further, these units are made with relatively shallow shelf depth so that the maximum number of display units can be employed within any given area.
In general, for normal times, particular seasons of the year, such units are more than acceptable. However, during certain other times, i.e. holiday seasons, the number and size of the shelves or display units are insufficient for the amount of merchandise to be sold. It is, therefore, necessary to provide at least a temporary additional space for the storage display. This means in general the purchase and "cold" storage of a number of shelf units which are normally not used.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a storage and display unit which is adjustable from normal use configuration to a configuration for use in extraordinary periods of time so as to provide additional space when needed and not be any larger overall than the normal unit.
It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a storage and display unit which is provided with shelves which may be easily enlarged or reduced to provide either shallow or wider depth as needed.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a storage and display device in which adjustment can be made without dismantling or replacing of the unit, or the shelves either in whole or in part.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a storage and display device which is attractive in appearance, simple and economical to construct and install and simple to use.
The foregoing objects, together with other objects and advantages, will become apparent from the following disclosure of the present invention.